One of The Bonuses of Walking

Like most walkers, I walk to keep fit, lose weight etc. And besides having to periodically buy comfortable walking shoes, which should be worn even if you don't walk much, it's free. Yes, unlike most other sports, fitness methods, classes, pool memberships etc, walking doesn't require an expense.

OK, maybe you'll need a sunhat and sunscreen, but many sedentary people have those for lying the sun and floating on rafts, cruising etc.

So, besides the frugality of walking, there's an added bonus, views, sunsets, sunrises etc. Last night I scheduled a walk with a friend, so I'd see the golden sunset. All it cost was a few calories, and I wanted to lose/spend those anyhow.

Diet's Not Doing Well, Lost Self-Control

This week I've barely had one day when I've stuck to my "diet," better eating regime. When offered temptation, I just can't say no.



One day a week eating what I shouldn't can work and still keep my weight down.  But this past week or so, it seems like every single day there's some sort of special/joyous occasion, irresistible food...or drink.

Even worse, my "at home pick me up" somehow morphed from cashews/dates to chocolate chips. They're all stored in the freezer. It hasn't helped that I read one of those "doubtful facts" on facebook that chocolate is a good cure for coughs. A few tiny chips are a lot less fat/sugar than squares of chocolate, but still...

Considering that I've been following the low carbohydrate eating regime for about a decade, I guess that these "little rebellions" are pretty normal. I must get myself back on the wagon, now, soon, tomorrow, after Shabbat.... whenever. I guess it will be whenever I can recharge my motivation, soon, Gd willing.



After all... tomorrow is another day

Trying To Analyze Pedometer Results

Just a few minutes ago, I sent a picture of yesterday's pedometer reading and complained to my walking group about how little I had walked. I hadn't even reached 12,000 steps.

But when I take a good look, I can see that I had three periods of real walking.

Granted, they weren't terribly long, but there's more serious walking in those periods than in some days which have more impressive numbers. The Pedometer record for yesterday calculated/sensed one hour, forty-seven minutes and forty seconds of activity, though most of it was just walking around inside. The three straight lines which I've circled are my actual walks outdoors.

Indoors, I walked up and down a few flights of stairs more than once. So if you add the stairs to the outdoor walking, I guess I had close to an hour of physical activity, which isn't all that awful. Now, if I could only find a way to "delete" the dessert I had last night at a neighbor's Sheva Brachot*.

*Sheva Brachot: Post wedding party, which can take place during the week after a wedding.

Appetite in Flux, Suddenly Needing Carbs

About a decade ago, I radically changed my eating habits, reducing carbs and grains drastically. The result was a fifteen 15 kilo, thirty 30 pound weight loss, which, I've pretty much kept off all this time. The key was to increase cooked vegetables, especially, squash, cabbage and carrots. I found them most satisfying. I made this change, which I tried not to call a "diet," because diets are temporary and I knew that the weight would pile back on with interest if I reverted back to my old eating habits.

At the time, we weren't at all in a good place financially, so I also had to find low cost foods. That's when I discovered that a couple of spoons of sesame paste, the stuff you use to make techina at home, is a fantastic and filling low-cost protein. It also keeps well for meals to go, when paired with cooked vegetables. That was my "take to work meal," sauteed onion, carrot and squash topped with sesame paste.

Recently, maybe because I have fewer scheduled things to do this year, I've begun to crave carbohydrates. I still stay away from pasta, which has always been a "control" problem with me. When I need something quick and easy to "fill" me, I take oats, not the super instant, and just add some boiling water and cover, until they are edible. I don't add anything to it, no milk, sugar, cinnamon nada. And shockingly, I've even started buying/eating the rice crackers, though I had always considered them terribly addictive. When I eat them, I follow the rule of never eating from a package. I set up a plate and only take out one or two at a time. When I need a very filling snack, I'll spread some of my sesame paste on a couple of them.

The most difficult thing in recent months, or longer, is that I can't find a breakfast that satisfies me. No matter what I prepare, whether it's a muesli of oats, goat yogurt and fruit, or an omelette with lots of vegetables, I want something more.

I used to eat the same exact breakfast pretty much every day for years, and now that just doesn't work for me. Maybe I just have to schedule in variety and have my breakfast suit pre-breakfast activities and also where I am. I usually sleep out once a week.

The Diet Saga is never over. For those of us who have been obese, or very overweight, keeping control of our weight is a lifetime sentence/job.

Healthy Lunch at Herzog

Even though I usually "brown bag it," bring my own food when out, I don't when I sign up for a day of studying at Michlelet Herzog's legendary Tanach summer program during the 9 Days.

Their lunch is perfectly healthy and diet-friendly. You serve yourself and can choose fish and lots of salads. The dessert is fruit, and on the table there's water to drink.

There are a selection of pastries in various hallways, corners etc throughout the buildings along with coffee, tea and cold drinks, too. And there was fruit, too, in some of the snack places. They are included in the price. The lunch is a separate payment when you register. I consider the lunch a very good investment. The food is tasty, and the diningroom cool and comfortable. A friend and I met up to eat together since we were in the same "sitting," though taking mostly different classes.

Diet Dilemma: Will Water Exercise Get Weight Off?

After dropping to the lowest weight I had been for a couple of years, due to a few factors, including a Jewish eating Holiday and a weekend in a hotel, a few of those annoying kilo returned.

Last summer, although I exercised a lot in the pool, no weight left. If anything חבר הביא חבר chaver hevi chaver, a friend brought a friend, and I weighed more at the end of the summer than in the beginning.

So, I'm back struggling, trying to eat less, walk more and also tone my muscles in the water. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a better number on the scale, B"H. It's a struggle for sure.

Diet Tip: Banish "The Clean Plate Club"

One thing that has been consistent in most of my life is that I was a founding member of  "The Clean Plate Club." That was even before the "baby nurse" my parents had hired after my sister was born introduced the name to our lexicon.

I almost never left food on my plate. I can't remember ever being served something I didn't like, even vegetables.

That may have made me into a "good eater," something praised by my family, especially because I wasn't a fussy eater. And since desserts were rare, candy forbidden, and we had lots of freedom outside to play, I wasn't fat as a child.

Dieting is a losing battle!

But as I got older and bigger, so did my appetite and at some point I was overweight, even mildly obese. For the past ten years I've been working hard at getting weight off and keeping it off.

First I cut out carbohydrates to almost none, and I also limited my protein portion. By doing these two simple things, I was able to lose about 30 lbs, or close to 15 kilogram. And I've kept most of it off.

To be honest, as time went on I've become less strict. One of the reasons is that research has shown that varying your calorie count, including having one day "off" a week actually speeds your metabolism. That helps the weight stay off.

About a year ago I discovered that five kilo had snuck back.  I've spent the last year fighting to get them back off. A month ago I succeeded, but now after some holidays and a hotel vacation a couple just crept back.

The good thing about having the weight off for so long is that my body has adjusted to the lower weight, and frequently, I realize that I'm "full," when there's still food on my plate. That is a new phenomena for me. So, as quickly as I can, I "clean" my plate by either packing away some of the food or throwing it in the garbage.

It's not a waste to throw out food. It's a waste to add it to your waist!

All You Need is Watermelon

This past Sunday was the Shavuot holiday here in Israel. Out of Israel aka Chu"L, it's a two day holiday, so was Sunday and Monday. On Shavuot we celebrate that Gd gave us the Torah, and we spend time learning Torah subjects.

Some people even learn all night. There were years when I learned a good part of the night, but didn't this year. For over twenty years, on Shavuot afternoon we've been hosting a class in English by my neighbor, Rabbi Dov Berkovits.

I serve watermelon. I used to also serve pretzels, but since the pretzels were mostly eaten by me, I eliminated them from the menu. This year a neighbor brought some cheesecake, too.  It was just too delicious, as was the watermelon. Of course the watermelon I bought was much too big, but it's a perfect juicy one.

When watermelons are this good, it's criminal not to eat them. I don't want to know about the calories and sugar in them.

Salad Could be a Meal

This salad could be a complete meal, if you're trying to cut down on carbohydrates. The seeds have protein. It can also be a side dish, served with any sort of meal.

The ingredients:
shredded raw beet
pumpkin seeds
fresh parsley
mushrooms
cucumber
tomato

The dressing:
olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice

This colorful and tasty salad was my contribution to our book club's pot luck dinner meeting. This month we read Rebecca. I find that the best way to make sure that there's something low carb at the meal is to bring it myself.

Breakfast Tweak Prevents Sugar Craving

Reporting on how my switching from a nice full vegetable omelet to fruit and goat yogurt has affected my food cravings. A few months ago I found myself craving sweets and fruit at best after eating a nice big vegetable omelet. And I also couldn't get the 3-4 kilo which had snuck on back off. So I decided to change my breakfast to fruit and goat yogurt. In the beginning I sometimes even added some oats.

apple, peach, ginger slivers and goat yogurt

Well, the results are even better than I had expected. I no longer crave something sweet, eat less fruit during the day and I lost the few kilo, thank Gd.

There are times that we must listen to our "cravings" and then use them as guides. If you find a way to prevent them, you gain control and can even lose weight.

Have you any easy diet tips like this one?

Easy Chicken "Fricassee"

What's Fricassee? It's generally chicken cooked in a sauce, frequently a white sauce, but Chef Google showed me links to definitions that say any sauce makes it a Fricassee.

I had a package of chicken wings and a package of chicken breast I needed to cook/use up before Passover.  So first I made a very simple sauce. I don't use/buy ready-made sauces.

Sauce Ingredients 

Photo by Y. Medad

• diced onion
• fresh garlic
• a few ripe tomatoes. OK in Israel they aren't expensive, so you can buy a can of diced tomatoes.
• 1/2 cup of wine I needed to get rid of
• a few peppercorns
• a couple of Tablespoons of Tamari sauce
• a couple of Tablespoons vegetable oil of your choice

Instructions

• saute the vegetables in the oil
• cover pan
• When the sauce is boiling strongly, add the wings and cut pieces of chicken breast.
• Cover again, and cook until chicken has become white and well cooked.

I've made it with meatballs, instead of the chicken breast. You can also add more vegetables to the sauce. We enjoyed it very much. If you try it, please tell me how it came out and how you changed it.

Nu, And How's The Diet Going?

It's certainly no secret that I have been struggling with my weight for a very log time. A number of years ago, I made it a very public diet which you can find by using the search engine of this blog by asking for "public diet," "diet saga," "low carbohydrate" and other labels.

I did manage to rid myself of about fifteen 15 kilo or thirty plus 30+ pounds, most of which has stayed off ever since, but about a third, five kilo found their way back about a year ago. When that unwanted weight had reached three kilo, I went to war, but lost the battle and gained another two kilo. But about six months ago, after the pool closed, I tried a few different tricks, about some of which I have blogged.

Over 12,000 steps is pretty rare for me.
12,000 is now very common.

The first thing I did was to make more time to walk, since the pool had closed. Three months of water exercise hadn't reduced much, except that my body looked and felt better. And even the experts say that walking is better for weight reduction than swimming. I increased my daily steps, as I could see on the pedometer.

The second thing I did to lose weight was to change my breakfast. For years I had been eating a large vegetable omelet, but not that long ago I felt terrible sugar/fruit cravings as soon as I finished it. I took that as a hint. Maybe I need to eat fruit for breakfast, since the omelets and vegetables weren't satisfying my hunger.

Now, for the past few months, I have fruit, fresh ginger and goat yogurt for breakfast. I must admit that there are days when I crave cashews afterwards, so I eat a few. It's clear that I need more protein early in the day in addition to the sugar/fructose.

Another thing I've noticed, and I do weigh myself almost daily on the same scale, is that the fewer restaurant or catered meals I eat, the lower my weight is. It goes up a bit when I've eaten out. And it's lowest when all the food I've eaten has been my own home cooking.

My weight seems to have stabilized close to where it was post-big diet, bli eyin haraa, let's not tempt the "evil eye." I do have days when I eat things I "shouldn't," but there are diet mavins who actually  say that once a week or two it is good to go off the restrictions. It stimulates the metabolism to work harder and burn calories more quickly. Also, it makes the "diet" easier to live with, and that is a major trick/technique. If you adopt a diet you find impossible to live with, you won't be able to stick to it very long.

And how is your diet going?

Fat, Fat Go Away

I guess that my diet saga will never truly end. I have very slowly gotten off about five kilo, 11 pounds after they had been vanished in a rather successful diet a few years ago. But I know well that they can return in an instant. Because it has happened.

Walking has helped. I've raised my weekly step count. That is until the flu stopped me. But at least I didn't gain weight with the flu. I still haven't returned to my pre-flu walking.

I caught the pedometer stop count davka at such a crazy number.

The hardest thing is to get a nicer looking body. I lost a bit of weight, but I am still very overweight and growing older. OK good news that I'm still alive. Thank Gd

Some Things I Should Never Buy...

The other day I walked into the health food store in Sha'ar Binyamin. I'm not quite sure why I went there. I didn't really need anything, but I bought a bit of nuts and then... I saw my weakness, what's called in Hebrew, the yetzer haraa. Evil inclination, temptation or chocolate covered mints. This health food store sells them by the weight.

I was able to resist all the dried fruit -yay- but not the mints. I love mint sweets, especially Hagan Daz mint ice cream. At least I can only get that in the states, and I doubt if I'll ever be there again. Sigh... Good news bad news...

I stored the mints in the freezer, with the nuts. And for the first few days I barely nibbled. But then on Friday I was so very tired, super-tired. And you know what they say about diets and not getting enough sleep. When your body craves sleep, it tries to overcompensate with sugar.

So, suddenly the mints got all eaten up by yours truly. Then I began telling myself that it was good that I ate them all at once. Now I won't have any to eat. No more temptation...  Does that make sense? Insufficient sleep plays with the brain and makes it a bit wacky.

May this be a much better and lower calorie week...

Craving Cashews, Why?

I used to nosh on almonds very happily and even walnuts, but the past few weeks I only want cashew nuts. Now, what's the difference between almonds, cashews and walnuts?

AlmondsOne serving (28 grams or a small handful) contains roughly:

• Calories: 161

• Total fat: 14 grams

• Protein: 6 grams

• Carbs: 6 grams

• Fiber: 3.5 grams

• Vitamin E: 37% of the RDI

• Magnesium: 19% of the RDI

Almonds may improve cholesterol levels. A number of small studies have found that eating an almond-rich diet can reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and oxidized LDL cholesterol, which is particularly harmful to heart health (14, 15, 16).
WalnutsA one-ounce serving of walnuts (28 grams) contains roughly:

• Calories: 182

• Total Fat: 18 grams

• Protein: 4 grams

• Carbs: 4 grams

• Fiber: 2 grams

• Vitamin E: 1% of the RDI

• Magnesium: 11% of the RDI

Walnuts appear to improve a number of risk factors for heart disease. This may be due to their high content of ALA and other nutrients.
A number of large studies have found that eating walnuts significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, while increasing "good" HDL cholesterol (31, 32, 33).
Walnuts may also improve other factors related to heart health, including blood pressure and the normal flow of blood through the circulatory system (34, 35).
In addition, walnuts may help reduce inflammation, which can contribute to many chronic diseases (36).
Interestingly, a study in college students found that eating walnuts increased a measure of cognition called "inferential reasoning," suggesting that walnuts may have beneficial effects on the brain (37).
CashewsOne ounce of cashews contains roughly:

• Calories: 155

• Total Fat: 12 grams

• Protein: 5 grams

• Carbs: 9 grams

• Fiber: 1 grams

• Vitamin E: 1% of the RDI

• Magnesium: 20% of the RDI

A number of studies have examined whether diets high in cashews can improve symptoms of metabolic syndrome.
One study found that a diet containing 20% of calories from cashews improved blood pressure in people with metabolic syndrome (39).
Another study found cashews increased the antioxidant potential of the diet (40).
Interestingly, a couple of studies have shown that eating diets high in cashews may increase blood sugar in people with metabolic syndrome. However, more studies are needed to confirm this effect (39, 41).

Which nut do you think is better?

Losing The Diet Battle

People who see my almost nightly post about how many steps I've taken each day as I kick off my shoes must think I'm winning the battle. But the truth is that I'm making pretty much no progress in getting off the weight that snuck on the past couple of years.

A very important diet principle I stick to is to make/design an eating plan you can live with. That's because if you have a numerical weight goal, which requires a food and exercise regime that isn't really sustainable, you'll quickly go off of it and yo-yo. We all know what that means. It means that the weight will return "with interest."

Not only are we all different, but our bodies change with time. The medical experts say that even our metabolism gets sluggish, not just our minds with age...

So far, I like this pedometer application, and it's working well. The three numbers (you can set it to do miles and inches) I follow most carefully are:

• steps
• kilometers per hour
• time exercised

I've really been trying to keep to two hours of being active each day. Now, being active also means the simple walking around the house while doing daily chores. You can also see on the graph, that I have periodic heavier active times. Now that it has been raining, thank Gd, I also walk quickly around my house to get the steps increased. 

Food is pretty easy to control, since most meals are home, but after about a decade of trying to diet/keep my weight down, it is harder to deny myself some foods. But the good thing is that smaller quantities of food like dates and cake etc now satisfy my sweet tooth.

I hope you're not bored by this, because my diet saga will continue for the rest of my life. And how is yours going?

Revolutionary Health Diet Advice

Today as I was eating my breakfast, apple and fresh ginger in goat yogurt, I turned on the television and found myself watching a morning "health" show.

A woman in her late forties asked a doctor how to improve the health and weight of her family. She said that they, her children and herself, were always tired. The first thing the doctor asked was what they ate for breakfast.

"Sweetened coffee and cake."

The doctor replied that all that sugar has to go. They need to have something fatty in the morning, like real cream or coconut cream in their coffee, a slice of avocado, nuts, etc. He told them that he, too, has been working hard to remove sugar from his diet. Natural fats are healthy, much healthier than all of the sugar most people eat, whether added to coffee or within all sorts of prepared foods.

The doctor also said that he keeps a supply of nuts with him for quick energizing snacks. This all jives with what I've been hearing for years and suits my conclusions about which sort of diet works best. Anyone who carefully reads the ingredients of all the low-fat reduced fat foods comparing them to the full-fat varieties will discover that the fat is replaced by sugars and salts. That makes the low-fat reduced fat foods extremely unhealthy, much worse for us than the natural fat originals.

What's your experience with this sort of eating?

Tough Choices and Easy Failures for Dieters

I think that this week will be a bad one for my weight loss quest. Last week, even with the Jewish Holidays, I managed to reduce a bit. But this week, I'll be eating in restaurants a few times.

Yesterday I showed up for a brunch on a very empty stomach. I even made a point of getting a decent walk in beforehand. I was very hungry by the time I sat down. OK, I saved a few calories by being able to substitute a second coffee for the juice. You may not realize this but juice is just the sugar, the calories of the fruit without any of the roughage which is so good for your system. And also it takes a few apples/oranges etc to fill a glass with juice.

The breakfast/brunch I ate was like two meals, with two eggs, some lox, cheese, salad, a bit of bread etc. But I could rationalize that brunch is "two meals."

BREAKFAST + LUNCH = BRUNCH

But then... suddenly this irresistible calorie laden vision appeared in front of me:

I failed to resist. OK, I had half of the cake, none of the jam and just a spoon of the whipped cream --just to check if it was real of course-- Sometimes self-control deconstructs and just disappears.

To quote Scarlett O'Hara:
"Tomorrow is another day..."



And since today is yesterday's tomorrow...

Diet Update, Weight Loss

Like too many people, I've been struggling trying to banish unwanted, unneeded, unattractive and unhealthy kilos/pounds. And in addition, I've had an occasional though chronic cough* that annoys more than anything else.

About a decade ago I managed to lose about 15 kilo, 30+ pounds, by reducing carbohydrates and getting out of the classroom. The rationale behind the low carb diet was based on the Blood Type Diet which prescribes this sort of eating plan for those with Type O blood. And when I was teaching in the yeshiva high school in Beit El, my schedule made it difficult to eat well. But the real reason I was pushed/encouraged into trying to diet was a chance to join the StartFresh kosher diet program for free in exchange for blogging about it.

The vast majority of that weight stayed off until about a year or more ago when I noticed that three kilo, six or more pounds, had suddenly reappeared. I tried all sorts of painless maneuvers to remove them, but somehow instead of reducing I found that two more had joined them. That meant that I was well over five kilo or eleven pounds more than what had become my weight. Even at the reduced weight I was technically overweight, though not obese.

Of course, I blamed my return to the classroom for the additional two kilo. Then at the end of June I really retired. The pool opened, and I exercised in the water a few times a week. And, although I began to look better, the extra weight didn't budge.

I needed to "recalibrate."

I listened to my body, which had been sending hints. For a few months I had begun to crave fruit after breakfast. And you must understand that I was eating nice breakfasts of vegetable omelets, which were large and theoretically filling enough to be proper meals. But somehow they didn't satisfy me. I was craving something sweet afterwards, and I had been drinking lots of coffee with sugar earlier in the morning.

Hint! Hint! Suddenly I decided to listen. If my body was asking for fruit in the morning, maybe it needed a fruit breakfast. So, I began having fruit, oats and goat yogurt. And afterwards I even left out the oats. The biggest surprise was that a small bowl with cut up fruit and under a cup of yogurt was enough for me. I felt satiated and had no sugar cravings.

My next challenge was when the pool closed on the first of September. I needed to exercise and really missed the water. Friends suggested I join the sports center in Ariel, even though the swimming pool has very few "women only" hours. Many of my friends go dressed in modest swimwear, which I do have. I went to take a look, but it didn't appeal. It's part of the view from a restaurant, and there are men who just sit by the pool watching...

I decided on the low cost walking, both with a friend and alone. My walking partner and I even exercise together at her house on occasion, and I've even forced myself to exercise to the music in good musicals. 

goat milk

almond milk

An additional change has been in the milk I put in my morning coffee. Instead of regular cow milk and sugar, I've been experimenting with all sorts of other fattier milks* and leaving out the sugar.

Now for the results. In less than two months, plus the summer vacation, over three of the five kilo are off, bli eyin haraa. And during that time I've eaten out, had some desserts etc. I haven't put myself on a super strict eating regime. In addition, there have been days when I've hardly had any exercise. One of my long time "diet principles" is to find an eating routine you can live with. Don't focus on a "weight goal," since maintaining it may well be impossible.

So far, bli eyin haraa (not to tempt the evil eye,) every few days I do see that my weight is slowly going down. I don't know how long that will continue, but I feel that I'm on the right track.

For me this has been a reminder that we must keep on changing and adapting to the new realities of our bodies and life situations. Do you have similar stories? Don't be shy. Comment, please.

*I will blog about my milk and lactose changes and how they have affected my cough in a future post, Gd willing.

Fighting to Get Off Every Ounce, Gram

Just under ten years ago, I found myself going on a diet, helped by Start Fresh, for two reasons:

1. I was obese
2. I was offered the program for free in exchange for blogging about it.

One of the biggest reasons I continued dieting, my own version of course,  was that the weight just fell off. Really, it was easy. I was out of work that year for the first time in over a decade, so I was able to devote the energy to myself and take walks with friends. The switch from high carbohydrate vegetarian eating to carnivorous low carbohydrates was just what my body needed to shed about thirty 30 pounds, fifteen kilograms. In six months my body changed enormously. I hadn't looked that good for years.

In the past year a few kilo snuck back on. Maybe I'm not as careful as I was in the heyday of my big weight loss. But I am still very active, exercise and rarely eat carbs, except Shabbat. 

If only there was a simple magic formula... an abracadabra that could make our bodies become what we dream.

In the meantime, I just do my best and try to fight to get the weight back off.